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Chaplain violated Army rule in promoting book

06-12-2015, 11:01 AM

WASHINGTON — An active-duty Army chaplain with the elite 75th Ranger Regiment has published a book titled Jesus Was an Airborne Ranger and appeared in a promotional video in uniform to promote it, raising questions about the service endorsing Christianity as the Pentagon wages wars in Muslim countries.

Chaplain John McDougall recently returned from Afghanistan where he served as chaplain for the 75th Ranger Regiment. He wrote the book, he told the Army in a story published on its website, because "the Jesus of many churches is a weakling — someone our Rangers cannot relate to."

The video was taken down Thursday by the book's publisher, said Charlene Guzman, senior publicist for WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group. McDougall regrets having appeared in uniform and was not speaking on behalf of the military, she said. He had cleared writing the book with military lawyers but not the video. McDougall, a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, could not be reached immediately for comment.

"It's a regrettable action and we were happy to take it down," Guzman said.

The Army's story carries a disclaimer at the end, saying, it "is not an official U.S. Army or Department of Defense endorsement of the book, Jesus Was An Airborne Ranger. The book reflects the views of the author and not those of the U.S. Government, DoD, or the Army."

The video had no disclaimer. With theatrical piano and string music, it features sharp cut-away views of McDougall's Army uniform, focusing on his U.S. Army patch, his 75th Ranger Regiment tab and the American flag, signifying his deployment to war zones.

McDougall's appearance in uniform endorsing a commercial or political venture violates military rules, said Tatjana Christian, an Army spokeswoman.

After they were contacted about the video by USA TODAY, the Army reached out to McDougall's commanders to inform them about the rule, Christian said.

His comments were not part of his official duty, she said.

"Chaplains are authorized to offer messages endorsing Christianity while in uniform as part of their official faith group religious support duties," Christian said. "This video was not a part of those official duties."

McDougall should face court martial for promoting his book in uniform, said Mikey Weinstein, who leads the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, a watchdog group. Beyond violating military regulations, the video is a propaganda coup for Islamic State militants and other religious zealots, he said.

ISIS will use the video to convince followers that the United States is waging a Christian war against Muslims, he said.

"This is propaganda of unparalleled proportions for ISIS," Weinstein said. "This message is going to kill Americans and kill innocents."

McDougall said he wrote the book to counter the notion that Jesus wasn't a fighter.

"We've made him into a soft, gentle — someone who wouldn't pose a threat to anyone," McDougall says in the video.

He continues: "We've kind of created a Jesus who is nice and friendly and warm. And we told men to pattern their lives after that Jesus. When in reality I can't find that Jesus in scripture. Yet there are moments when he's gentle. There are also moments when he's ferocious. I want to recapture that aspect that has been lost. I think that's what this book is intended to do."

The book's promotional material continues that theme.

"Get ready to see Jesus like you've never seen him before — a battle-scarred combatant who stared death in the face and won. This is no Sunday-school Jesus, meek and mild. This is the Warrior Christ who has descended from the heavens, defeated the Enemy, and rescued humanity. Now, he calls us to continue his mission and fight for others—our families, our communities, and the world."

And what does military personale wearing uniforms while promoting and participating in a sodomite parade say?

[sarcasm]Nope, doesn't sound like a "political venture" at all.[/sarcasm]

I think every day we break the laws and rules, because there are so many of them, and so many trivial and bad laws. So, it's easy for tyrants to use these laws to oppress certain views while pretending they're only enforcing the laws. We see his all the time in anti-discrimination laws which are almost always applied in only one direction.